Room Gallery Presents “Learning from ACT UP: Tactics of Direct Action”

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The exhibition explores the grassroots advocacy group that confronted the AIDS crisis in 1980s New York

Irvine, Calif., September 16, 2024 — The University of California, Irvine’s Room Gallery announces the opening of Learning from ACT UP: Tactics of Direct Action, curated by Juli Carson and Sasha Ussef. The exhibition opens on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, and will run through Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024.

Learning from ACT UP is a performative installation featuring a collection of film, graphics and archival materials that delve into the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), a grassroots advocacy group founded in 1987. The exhibition explores the impact of ACT UP's non-violent civil disobedience in confronting the AIDS crisis, particularly the New York chapter’s actions from 1987 to 1993. The works on display reflect the group’s legacy in reshaping public discourse, combating government inaction and advocating for systemic change.

At the heart of the exhibition is the famed SILENCE=DEATH graphic, which became a symbol of ACT UP's defiance of homophobic ideologies and medical indifference. This bold imagery, alongside additional archival materials, immerses visitors in the historical moment when collective action initiated shifts in societal and governmental responses to the AIDS epidemic.

In addition to archival materials, the installation includes the documentary United in Anger: A History of ACT UP, which provides insight into the organization’s culture of meetings, affinity groups and the planning of major direct actions, including Seize Control of the FDA and Stop the Church. The documentary offers an intimate perspective on ACT UP’s multifaceted activism, driven by a combination of grief, urgency, and creative protest.

The exhibition calls on viewers to consider the power of organized resistance in today’s climate of political polarization and social unrest. Through ACT UP’s example, the exhibit demonstrates how strategic, peaceful civil disobedience can confront crises and incite change.

Learning from ACT UP: Tactics of Direct Action will be on view from October 5 through December 14, 2024. The opening reception will be held on Saturday, Oct. 5, from 2-6 p.m. in the Room Gallery. The exhibition is free and open to the public during gallery hours, Tuesday–Saturday, from noon–6 p.m.

This exhibition is supported by the University of California, Irvine, and the Claire Trevor School of the Arts.

About the Curators:

Juli Carson is a professor of art, theory and criticism in the Department of Art at UC Irvine and Director of the University Art Galleries. From 2018-19 she was the Philippe Jabre Professor of Art History and Curating at the American University of Beirut. Her books include Exile of the Imaginary: Politics, Aesthetics, Love (Vienna: Generali Foundation, 2007) and The Limits of Representation: Psychoanalysis and Critical Aesthetics (Buenos Aires: Letra Viva Press, 2011). Her two most recent books are The Hermeneutic Impulse: Aesthetics of an Untethered Past (Berlin: b_books, 2019) and Mary Kelly’s Concentric Pedagogy: Selected Writings (UK: Bloomsbury Press, 2024).

Sasha Ussef is the associate director for the University Art Galleries at the University of California, Irvine. She received a master’s in urban planning and an M.A. in art and curatorial practices in the public sphere from the University of Southern California. She has taken on curatorial and programming positions at the Sursock Museum in Beirut and the Vincent Price Art Museum in Los Angeles, among others.

About Learning from ACT UP: Tactics of Direct Action: The exhibition focuses on the actions initiated by the founding New York chapter from 1987-1993, which performatively shows how one might react to a social crisis, reach a broad audience, change the discourse of “business as usual,” and initiate systemic change.

About the Room Gallery: The Room Gallery, which is a part of the University Art Galleries is committed to promoting an intergenerational dialogue between 60s/70s neo-avant-garde art and contemporary visual culture. Accordingly, the curatorial mission is to keep an eye on the modernist past while promoting the most innovative aesthetic and political debates of the postmodern present. From this vantage, the projects commissioned provoke intelligent debate on the subject of art in its most expansive poetic definition. What distinguishes the program is its unwavering commitment to publishing scholarly texts in catalogue/book form in order to disseminate research-based information into the community, providing a venue for the promotion of innovative discourse surrounding mixed media production today. The UAG program provides several exhibition platforms for inter-generational and interdisciplinary dialogue. The Major Works of Art Series commissions original projects by canonical artists working today. The Emerging Artist Series features solo projects by a set of younger artists informed by the legacies showcased in the Major Works series. The Critical Aesthetics Program commissions new work by internationally renowned mid-career artists. Augmenting this intergenerational dialogue, UAG also produces larger thematic group exhibitions alternately showcasing historical and contemporary art and film projects. UAG further promotes an active dialogue between UCI residents and the local and international art communities through colloquia, conferences, visiting artist lectures and theme-based films series, all of which are open to the public. As the galleries continue to mature, they stand committed to being an experimental exhibition space different from the current - but largely traditional - art biennial and film festival platforms.

About the Claire Trevor School of the Arts: As UCI’s creative engine, the Claire Trevor School of the Arts has proven itself to be a national leader in training future generations of artists and scholars who go on to inspire audiences in theaters, galleries and concert halls – as well as in entertainment and technology-related venues throughout the world. CTSA combines artistic training with a top-ranked liberal arts education. It is home to the departments of art, dance, drama and music, offering 15 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and two minors. CTSA is currently ranked No. 1 in affordable fine arts, drama/theater and music degrees by the College Affordability Guide. Courses include extensive studio, workshop and performance experiences; theoretical and historical studies; and arts and technology practices. CTSA’s nationally ranked programs begin with training but culminate in original invention. The distinguished, international faculty work across a wide variety of art forms and forge interdisciplinary partnerships with others across the campus. For more information, visit arts.uci.edu. 

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UCI, visit uci.edu.

Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus ISDN line to interview UCI faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UCI news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at communications.uci.edu/for-journalists.